As the season is on its way from spring into summer, the La Salle boys volleyball team has been playing their first season as an OSAA-sanctioned sport. 

Although their schedule is filled — with practice Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and games on Tuesday and Thursday — they make the most out of their time together, players said.

For senior and captain Evan O’Neil, he enjoys being able to try new things at practice. 

“I love hitting at practice,” he said. “I don’t get to do it too often, because I’m always setting.” 

However, he finds blocking to be his least favorite due to the exhaustion resulting from it. 

During practice, the team participates in hitting lines, blocking, and all possible scenarios they might face in games in order to improve on the court.

For freshman Rowan Eddy, he believes that practice is one of the most important ways to work toward their goals — the two biggest being to beat Central Catholic High School and to win state.  

According to junior Aero Rahimi, the best way they can achieve this is “consistency at practice,” he said. “And really focusing on things that we need to work on just honing in on certain skills.” 

Rahimi believes their coach, Denis Zhukov — who has been coach for La Salle’s team since the 2023-2024 season — has supported them through this process. 

“He is just so knowledgeable about the sport,” O’Neil said. “He played at the Olympic level and pro throughout the world, so he just has a lot of knowledge to pass on.”

Similarly, Rahimi appreciates coach Zhukov’s calmness and ability to stay level-headed during games, especially as they try to achieve their goals, both personal and team-oriented. 

The team is trying to grow closer and win the state championship this year, after placing third last year to Summit High School.

A common favorite memory from this season was the tournament they played at South Salem High School on Saturday, April 10 and Sunday, April 11.

Both Rahimi and O’Neil felt that they played well during the sets.

“We came together a lot and played really well,” O’Neil said.

All of the players share the sentiment that their team communication and energy is their biggest struggle, and they found this performance to be successful in that regard.

“It was great. We lost a set like 15 [to] 25 and it was bad, and we needed to win by point differential,” Rahimi said. “The next set we came out swinging, and we won the set 14 [to] 25, so we won by one point in the point differential. And that was amazing.”

Eddy and Rahimi acknowledged the struggles they have been having mainly evolved around team morale. Although they haven’t had opportunities to do team bonding, Eddy hopes to do so later in the season as he feels it will help with community building.

“I think personally, it’s the mental aspect,” Eddy said. “And for our team, I think it’s just communicating, because when something goes slightly wrong, no one really communicates, and it causes the whole team to crash and burn.”

To combat the struggles, they try to celebrate everything. O’Neil has the team huddle after every point or play to acknowledge one another and keep spirits high.

Although Eddy is the only freshman on the team, he appreciates the inclusivity and supportiveness of the upperclassmen.

“They’re really including and it’s really kind,” he said. “And whenever I mess up, they always just help me get better, especially Evan, because we’re both setters, he always helped correct my form and just help me improve everything I’m doing.”

The players all expressed appreciation for the experiences they have had with their team, and encouraged those who may be interested to join, even if they haven’t participated before or are nervous to commit to something. 

“The community [is] just so uplifting, and it’s just so fun to be around,” Eddy said. “It’s really great.”

In addition to people joining the team, the players feel enthusiastic when people show up to their games, saying that the cheering from fans helps them feel supported and helps them grow the sport. 

The team only has one underclassmen currently and will need new members in the coming years, players said. 

“It’s an awesome sport. It’s not only for girls,” Rahimi said. “Even if you want to just try it, it’s very low commitment, so we would love to have you next year.”